This and That

Poses and Shots

temayfield — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:27:08 +0000

Well, we have accomplished one more thing on the to-do list for the wedding. We have a photographer! I’m so excited about it.

Cory Callahan, of Callahanphoto has agreed to photograph the wedding. He has an “uncommon” style that the other and I instantly liked. We’ve been hunting for about 3 months now trying to find someone in our price range that photographs in a style that we enjoy. I’m glad we finally found it…although I’m not looking forward to the rest of the list.

Be sure to check out Cory’s website: http://www.corycallahan.com/ and his new blog coming soon. Maybe he’ll be photographing your next event too!!

Delicious Things

temayfield — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:52:31 +0000

Since moving into my town home in 2006 I have learned how to bake. Well, maybe its not learning but attempting. You see, since I now actually have my own kitchen where I only have to clean up after myself and sometimes the other I actually enjoy cooking and baking and I don’t do that bad of a job either.

My latest baking attempt was a King Cake. A what, you say? King Cake, is a Louisianna tradition (among a few other places) that is made between 12th Night and Fat Tuesday and represents the Three Kings (if your catholic you should get all the biblical references if not, just enjoy). In addition, the King and Queen (of Mardi Gras I think) were chosen by getting the piece with the nut, bean, or plastic baby hidden inside. Today, the person that finds the plastic baby just has to bring a king cake to the next party. There’s probably WAY more to it than that but that’s what I’ve learned from my one trip to Mardi Gras I’m sticking with it.

Anyway… My recipe was adapted from a few different ones I found on-line. The “bread” is a basic brioche and I filled it with cream cheese and strawberries because…well the other and I like sickeningly sweet food. The recipe made two so I brought one to work. I must have made it fairly well and close to the “originals” sold in Louisiana because it was gone after lunch and even the employees from Louisiana were eating seconds! Needless to say I’m pretty damn proud of my first attempt at King Cake, which was also my first attempt at making bread. Maybe if the economy takes my job I can sell sweets out of my house…Hhhhmmm.

Picks will be available soon on flickr.

If you ask really nicely and of course pay postage I may make one for you. )

Good Things

temayfield — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:23:01 +0000

Well, almost 10 months to the day after finishing Graduate School I can scratch another professional goal off my list. Saturday I completed and passed the LEED AP test for LEED-NC. What exactly does this mean? Well, it depends on how you look at it. First, it means that according to USGBCI I am capable of understanding and implementing the core principles and practices of LEED-NC. Well, “yay” you say? I know, passing a test doesn’t mean anything if you can’t do something with what you learned. So, I am looking to the future.

Sustainability has recently been thrown into the limelight and while it may be the latest buzz word it is not the latest craze. I remember vividly sitting in a freezing cold classroom in Jefferson Township High discussing the implications of sustainable practices in terms of the “biosphere” (I can’t believe we had to use that word!!) What has changed since then is the backing of government and a better understanding (by a large majority of the public) of how to incorporate sustainable practices into regulations and programs. The recent attention to Global Warming and Climate Change has caused the Governor to sign numerous Executive Orders leading to House Bills and the rewriting of building codes, land development codes and comprehensive plans across the state. I think the most important part of all these changes is what local governments will do with these amendments. Will many provide fast track permitting like Sarasota County? Or a rebate on permit fees like the City of Tampa? Or will they be more aggressive requiring public transportation connectivity, density requirements, standards for energy efficiency?

No one can really say with any certainty how far beyond the State requirements local governments will go but I hope they will look to local consultants/”industry insiders” to assist them in developing the necessary requirements and that I am able to be involved in this process. I don’t see this as a change that will occur over night, but it will happen and hopefully between my general knowledge, education, and now accredidation I will be ready to actively participate.

I said yes

temayfield — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:18:13 +0000

It took a few days to sink in….

We will be getting married sometime in the next year (maybe year and a half). He proposed Friday night with the help of some of our awesome friends here in Ft. Myers. Yes, I was surprised. Yes, I cried. Yes, he got down on one knee. Yes, I stammered a positive response. We have a few pictures of the event that will be posted on flickr at some time in the near future. And of course we will be sending out details of all the festivities as soon as we have it figured out. No, we don’t have a date set or anything else. The weekend was spent celebrating with my parents. Next up, a trip to Salt Lake to see the parents.

To AM, SS, and LG thank you for being there to help ME you are all the best. You did an awesome job, even with the all the yelling. )

reconnect

temayfield — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:20:37 +0000

It has been almost a month since I finished my Master’s program and it has been an absolute whirl wind. I spent most of the month catching up on work and life, and I am glad. I have been able to reconnect with many friends that I had lost touch with whether they moved across the county or calls became further and futher apart. I find it interesting how people’s lives can change so drastically in just a few months let alone a year or more. Although looking back at my own life, a year ago I would have laughed at you if you said he would be living with me. In a way I guess the changes I define as “drastic” are really par for the course. I wish everyone the best. I will get better at this phone calling thing, you’ll see.

Relief

temayfield — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:47:20 +0000

It has been a “long strange trip” but I am finally finished with my school work and after a review from my advisor and mentor I will soon be finished with graduate school too. I have many mixed feelings about this, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with all this free time. I know the first will be to address my “social” life. There have been many people I have “neglected” over the course of this past year, I hope they recognize how important this was to me and won’t be too angry. The second will be to enjoy all the things I placed second to school, trips to the beach, Friday night happy hours that last till Satruday morning, “chasing gulls,” football games, extra time in WPB, and more opportunities to be published. To those of you that have supported me through the “crazies,” thank you. I couldn’t have finished this without you. I look forward to the begining of the next trip.

Sweet Goodness

temayfield — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:34:17 +0000

I have something that must be shared.

Cheesecake.

My “future mother in law” or Tami as I like to call her, has opened a business selling her homemade cheesecakes. The word fabulous doesn’t begin to describe the sweet goodness that is Tami Cakes. For Christmas we have received a mocha and a maple/carmel/chocolate concotion that was awesome. Before Thanksgiving we were taste testers for samples of apple crumb, pumpkin, blackberry, pecan, sundried tomato pesto, and pesto, sounds crazy I know, but they were also amazing. Check out the website tamicakes.net and order one. You won’t be disappointed, yes this is coming from the girl that used to only eat New York Cheesecake. Trust me you’ll love it.

Addicted

temayfield — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:11:27 +0000

There are many things on this earth I can’t live with out; the obvious, food, water, shelter, and clothing. Then there are the not so obvious; ice cream, pool parties, my flash drive, and my cell phone. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized I should also add my iPod to the list. You see, we have been running every other morning to get ready for a 10K the begining of October. We’ve had our ups and downs, there were a couple of weeks we didn’t make it out at all. However, as of late we’ve been on track and I have been running with the musical wonder strapped to my arm, which I believe has allowed me to run farther without stopping (the reality of which is a topic for another blog). Unfortunately, this morning about 2.5 miles in, the battery died and I was forced to listen to morning traffic on McGregor Boulevard. I now fully remember why I started running with the 80G wonder in the first place. Between the woosh of traffic, the whistle of construction crews, and the honking of inpatient drivers I made it a whole quater mile before giving up and walking to a side street. I realize being able to block these things out is not always a good thing for a variety of safety reasons; however if it means I can run 4+ miles while keeping up with him and not stopping to walk, I’ll take my chances.

Running the Causeway

temayfield — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:22:23 +0000

We ran a 5K over the weekend to christen the new causeway over to Sanibel. It was interesting. Under the blazing sun approximately 800 runners ran across the causeway and back with the first runner crossing the finish line in under 15 minutes. Me, well lets just say I took a bit longer than that. We are running a 10K next month, where I hope I will do better but atleast now I know what to expect and have something to work towards. I’m sure he will be able to out run me, but next time I won’t be so far behind.

In the house of mouse

temayfield — Thu, 17 May 2007 19:18:28 +0000

Last month we and mom went to Disney World to partake in the awe insipiring oddity that is Cirque de Soliel, eat and drink around the world, and celebrate his quater life crisis. We all enjoyed the garden show and the food and the show. However in the process we learned you are never too old to enjoy “the” mouse and the fun times are the ones that you make yourself.